Death to the Feeble Masses

Did you spend some quality time with your valentine? Yea, it was in the middle of the week…and work…and stuff. But, it’s the weekend now so no excuses right?! Take them camping, start a fire, go for a hike but whatever you do, don’t forget your headphones and might want to bring a splitter so you both can enjoy what this week’s new releases have to offer. Kicking off this week of heart’s is Austria’s Harakiri for the Sky as they continue to mix post-metal melancholy with black metal aggressiveness on Arson, thought provoking black metallers Eignelicht offer up their highly anticipated full length debut Self-Annihilating Consciousness and even though it’s only five tracks its all consuming nature makes it feel so much more expansive, Chaos Echoes successfully trump their own astounding debut on Mouvement and further prove that they are the reigning champs of extremely complex and contextual music, rounding out the opening slots: punk attitude meets hardcore intensity on The Good The Bad and The Zugly‘s third full length Misanthropical House. As you can clearly see, buying that headphone splitter is a great idea so you can share all the good stuff this week has to offer. There’s more to follow so head inside and enjoy. Continue reading →

What is black metal anymore? Does the label have any meaning left? When it comes down to it, the music we celebrate here at Nine Circles is loud, abrasive, and marches to the beat of a rebellious heart. People get caught up in categorization and labelling, under the impression that pigeonholing something gives them some sort of power over it. Eigenlicht is having none of that on debut full length Self-Annihiliating Consciousness, a towering monolith of sound that pushes against the constraints of the genre, refusing to bow before something as devoid of meaning as “black metal” even as it uses some of the building blocks of the movement in its nebulous and far-reaching shape. Continue reading →

With an interesting promo sheet and heavy Clutch / Down influences, Canada’s Thy Kingdom Slum will be releasing their debut album, A History of Dissent, this week on Slum World Productions. The previously mentioned promo sheet reads like a dossier from a group of mercenaries bent on, in their own words, “reweaponizing musical frequencies to awaken the complacent and inactive dissenters.” The band’s muscular rock swagger throughout will not only appeal to a wide audience but is also more than enough to keep listeners entertained and maybe even jump start this reweaponization. Just ahead of the album’s release we spoke with mastermind Trevor De Block so head inside to see what he had to say.